Many kinds of conveyor system are known. Conveyor systems allowing automatic or semi-automatic assembly at a series of sequentially arranged work stations are widely used in manufacturing plants. Examples of conveyor systems may be seen in French Patent Specification No. 2235068 and in U.K. Patent Specification Nos. 1,371,454 and 1,451,464. Examples of systems particularly intended for connecting work stations may be seen in U.K. Patent Specification Nos. 1,313,755 and 2,010,138, U.S. Pat. No. 3,650,373 and European Published Applications Nos. 163,617 and 203,898.
One disadvantage of many known systems is that the structure which supports and guides a conveyor element (which may be a conventional chain, or a belt, or continuous flexible chain made up of interconnected plastics elements) is not readily adapted to a chain or belt of different dimensions. Hence extensive reconstruction is normally necessary if it is required to use a different conveyor element, for example because a heavier workpiece is to be moved through a plurality of work stations in sequence.